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Fifties from captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, along with a late flourish from Washington Sundar, guided Gujarat Titans (GT) to 229/4 in 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday.
Put in to bat by RR's stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal--stepping in for the injured Riyan Parag--the Titans were propelled to a 200+ total by fifties from captain Gill (84 off 44 balls), Sudharsan (55 off 36 balls) and a late cameo of 37* off 20 balls from Sundar. Gujarat Titans capped off their innings in style, with Sundar and Rahul Tewatia smashing 21 runs in the final over bowled by Tushar Deshpande, who was struck for three sixes. The Gujarat Titans openers, Gill and Sudharsan, started with a clear intent to exploit the powerplay overs, helped by an 18-run over bowled by RR's Jofra Archer, who conceded nine extras in the opening over. Both Gill and Sudharsan dealt in boundaries at regular intervals and guided GT's score after the Powerplay to 82/0. While Sudharsan completed his fifty off 30 balls in the ninth over, captain Gill brought up the fourth fifty of this IPL season in the 11th over, also off 30 balls. However, RR's Yash Raj Punja broke the 118-run opening stand in the same over as he claimed Sudharsan's wicket. After 11 overs, GT's score was 119/1. Gill upped the ante in the very next over as he slammed RR all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for a six and a four in the 12th over. New batter Jos Buttler could not contribute much as he scored 13 runs off 10 balls before being dismissed by Jadeja in the 14th over. GT were 155/2 after 14 overs. Gill continued to deal in boundaries at regular intervals and looked set for his first century of the season, but was dismissed by Brijesh Sharma in the 17th over, after scoring 84 runs off 44 balls, including nine fours and three sixes. GT breached the 200-run mark soon after Gill's wicket as they reached 204/3 in 18 overs. While Brijesh Sharma picked up another wicket by dismissing Jason Holder, Washington Sundar took charge of the innings after Shubman Gill's departure. Sundar remained unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls, while Rahul Tewatia provided a late flourish with a rapid 14* from just four deliveries, including two sixes, as Gujarat Titans finished on an imposing 229/4 in 20 overs. For RR, Ravindra Jadeja (1/34 in 4 overs) and Yash Raj Punja (1/37 in 4 overs) were the decent performers, while Archer (0/46 in 3 overs), Brijesh Sharma (2/47 in 4 overs) and Tushar Deshpande (0/52 in 4 overs) had expensive outings. (ANI)
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